BANKING giant HSBC was in the firing line yesterday after revealing record profits of £365 a second.

Europe's biggest bank made £11.5billion over the past year - £2billion more than its closest UK rival.

But furious union leaders claimed that staff got a raw deal, receiving the smallest wage rises of the Big Five banks.

Amicus national officer John Nolan said that HSBC only put an extra three per cent in the pot for pay rises. "It is outrageous that a firm which reports profits of this size insists on imposing a below-inflation pay rise," he said.

HSBC fuelled the fire by handing £4.7billion to shareholders, after raising the dividend payout 16 per cent and Mr Nolan added: "Amicus would expect the bank to recognise the hard work of staff, not simply reward shareholders."

The bank's annual report, also published yesterday, revealed that HSBC's top five earners shared £35million. On top of that, chairman Stephen Green and chief executive Michael Geoghegan pocketed more than £14million between them.